Colonial America was democratic. Documents, agreements and other representative actions are a proof of the establishment of a democracy in the colonies. England was not democratic, and the colonies purpose was to separate themselves as much as possible from the Crown and their undemocratic flu. They had freedom of press and religion and were getting accustomed to doing things their way.

Documents such as the Maryland’s Act of Toleration, the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut and The Lady’s Laws are prove of the spirit of democracy coming to light. Oddly, pubs and taverns are an example of the origin of democracy. Since rich and poor people would be there daily, ideas would be shared and everyone was “forced” to listen to one another.

The Fundamental Orders of Connecticut was the closest document for political democracy in the 17th century. It is considered the first written constitution of Colonial America. It was formed by elected representatives, which made it a representative government. It stated that two assemblies should be held each year. They were set to discuss and make laws. It’s an example of a democratic document because if a governor neglected his duty, the voters were able to take over. This gave power to people, which literally translates to ‘democracy’.

Another democratic feature of Colonial America was the Virginia’s House of Burgesses. It was the first representative legislative body in the colonies although only men who owned land could vote. It basically provided a voice in the government because you could also choose representatives. In their first meeting in a church at Jamestown, they agreed on the minimum price of sale in tobacco. They would also make and pass laws. Some of the best known Burgesses where: Patrick Henry, who introduced resolutions against the Stamp Act, Thomas Jefferson, who would later on write the Declaration of Independence and George Washington who became America’s...

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...In a democracy, people choose their leaders by voting, and everyone is treated equally. Democracy revolves around rule by the majority. In my opinion, colonialAmerica was on its way to democracy, but far from being a true democratic society. Only a small portion of the people were able to make the decisions, so government did not revolve around the majority.
By the 1720s in most colonies, eligible voters were defined as white Christian males who owned land and were over the age of 21. In other colonies, only Protestants or members of a particular church could vote. All voters had to own land because colonial leaders believed that only property owners could know what was best for a colony. This automatically excludes women, slaves, and men without enough money to own land (which made up more than half of the population) from electing representatives. Since democracy is based on the idea that the majority of the people should hold power in government, this proves that the colonies were not truly democratic. The majority of the population was excluded from the election process, making democracy impossible to achieve. Moreover, it was only in two colonies, Rhode Island and Connecticut, that the actual government was elected by the people. In the other colonies, the governor was appointed by the king or by the colony’s proprietor....

...Did democracy exist in the colonies during the eighteenth century before the American Revolution? Democracy is rule by the people, simply put. This on a large scale is nearly impossible. How could all the people of America, then or now, or even of a decent size town today all come together to vote on issues. We today have a representative Democracy, which in itself is a logistical compromise on a true democracy. In analyzing the government they had in the colonies and comparing it to the "Democracy" that we have today there are enough similarities that I would have to call the form of colonial government Democratic.
In the colonies, not everyone was allowed to vote this was certainly not democratic, but the criteria to be able to vote weren't very extensive. The only real requirement was the owning of land. This today we might see as a hard thing to obtain. In those days land was very cheap. To make it even easier to obtain, laborers were paid well. This gave immigrants the ability to earn enough money to buy land in a short time, and farm it on their own. This also is the reason labor was in high demand, so many of the labors bought their own land and moved off to it. Labor was in short supply for this reason, and thus laborers were paid well. More than ninety percent of the people were farmers, most of who owned their own land. All these people would be able...

...presumed that America was a melting pot, that the environment created a homogeneous American culture, with similar values, beliefs, and social practices. Such cultural uniformity is inherently plausible. After all, most white colonial Americans worked the soil, enjoying the fruits of their labor, and practiced similar Protestant faiths. Moreover, they believed in private ownership of the means of production by individual cultivators. Generations of scholars, following the lead of Frederick Jackson Turner in the early twentieth century, argued that free and open land on the frontier created an American people whose identity was shaped by the independence land ownership provided and whose ideology was characterized by individualism, democracy, and equality of opportunity.
Colonial cultures, however, were far less uniform than Crèvecoeur imagined. The women and men who peopled early America--Native Americans, Africans, East Anglians, Welsh, Germans, Dutch, among many others--invented conflicting popular cultures, meshing the beliefs and practices of their birthplaces with the demands of the American environment and the cultures of their neighbors. Indians and Africans, a substantial part of the colonial population, have been ignored in models of cultural uniformity. Even white Protestant immigrants created diverse cultures. While sharing a common religious vision, Puritans and Anglicans,...

...All the colonies that were founded in the seventeenth century contributed to the values of perennial America. The three colonies that made the most significant contributions were the colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut. These colonies displayed the democratic government that we are ruled under today, their educational opportunities were strong and sound, and the religious toleration of these colonies was strong and many religions shared the colonies in peace. Their social plurality kept them safe from the Indians and helped them build relationships that made their colony successful and thrive, while other colonies struggled to survive. These relationships that were formed helped their economic materialism, trade.
The colonies of Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Connecticut contributed greatly to the type of government that we use today. Although Virginia was first ruled by crown, the people, under Nathaniel Bacon, created a document, Declaration in the Name of the People (primary source, document 9). This document convicted the governor of Pennsylvania of crimes against the people and they over threw him and took control for themselves. Pennsylvania, unlike Virginia, was governed right from the start by the people. The type of government in which they were ruled by was a proprietary government, ruled by the land-owning people. Although the proprietary government is not a true democratic government, matters that needed to be resolved were...

...called the rule of the many for the benefit of all citizens a “polity” and referred to the rule of many to benefit themselves as a “democracy”. The term democracy is derived from the Greek words demos (the people) and kratia (power or authority) and may be used to refer to any system of government that gives power to the people, either directly, or indirectly through elected representatives. Democracy is hard, perhaps the most complex and difficult of all forms of government. It is filled with tensions and contradictions, and requires that its members labor diligently to make it work. Democracy is not designed for efficiency, but for accountability; a democratic government may not be able to act as quickly as a dictatorship, but once committed to a course of action it can draw upon deep wellsprings of popular support. Democracy, certainly in America, is never a finished product, but is always evolving. The outer forms of government in the United States have altered little in two centuries, but once we look past the surface we discover great changes. Yet, most Americans believe that the basic principles underlying their government derive directly from notions first enunciated by the Framers. The Framers wanted to create a political system that involved placing the people at the center of power. Due to the vest size of the new nation, direct democracy, a system of government...

...Democracy in America
POS 110
October 21, 2012
Morgan Lowe
Democracy in America
This paper will examine the advantages and disadvantages of American democracy as well as discuss some suggestions that could possibly help to improve it. In addition, this paper will review some of the facts that have been learned throughout this course, and how I feel about some of the issues. I thought that after learning some of the things that I did in this class my opinion would definitely have changed about the political system in America. My opinion about the American political system has held steadfast even after almost completing this course. Money plays an important role in the American political system. The people who have a lot of money can help to determine who will be a serious political candidate and how much that candidate may spend on his political campaign which affects the winner.
This paper will also discuss American democracy and how the Constitution impacts citizens’ perception of democracy. The importance of civil rights, the impact the Electoral College plays in elections, how laws are made, the president’s role, and the impact bureaucracy has on the lives of people will also be discussed. The advantages and disadvantages will also be weighed for each branch of government which may determine some of the drawbacks of...

...﻿Slavery took place in ColonialAmerica in a complicated way. Around 1960 historians describe slavery in certain in a way, which leads them to think that there is differences between Whites and Blacks when it comes to intelligence, civilization, morality or physical capacity. All of the sudden White starting to think they should be the leader of people from Africa. They think that people from Africa should be the one doing all the hard work. Then the Civil right movement began in the 20th century, which lead historians to rethink about race and also, that African are just as smart and capable of doing the things that White people are capable of doing. Slavery then became racial slowly in colonialAmerica, which means slavery were force labor and was not dealt with race. The thing is not all forced laborers were black and to be black did not mean they were enslaved. Most of the Africans in America were enslaved. From early moments in the history of slave traders came to Jamestown around 1690 and in Massachusetts by 1630. Slavery began to grow slowly from east to west until after the American Revolution, slavery was not well know in the south at this time. Many of the men In Jamestown was indentured servants they were brought to America to work without pay under a rich white person for many years before they could become free. Indentured was over used during this time before slavery became...

...Sam Miller
APUSH
Mr. Hammond
9-17-12
During the colonial time period, the thirteen colonies began to develop democratic features. However, many parts of colonial lifestyle were not democratic. A closer look at the time period shows that democracy was a work in progress.
One democratic feature of colonialAmerica was that assemblies elected by the people made laws for the colonies, but this feature had an undemocratic side as well. In order to vote you had to be a white, male, landowner. The Virginia House of Burgesses is a perfect example of theses democratic assemblies in the colonies (Doc. 6). Each colony had a legislature made up of representatives chosen by the people. This was one of the most democratic features of the colonies. However, these legislatures were made up of representatives that only certain people could vote for. The voting requirements in the colonies were very strict. In order to vote you had to be a white, landowning Christian (Doc. 2). This factor of the colonies was very undemocratic.
Another democratic feature of colonialAmerica was the freedom of religion. Maryland’s Act of Toleration was one of many laws in the colonies that protected colonist’s religious rights (Doc. 1). Some colonies where founded just so people could be granted their religious freedom. Maryland was founded as a safe haven for Catholics to escape persecution. Colonies...